Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Mark Barnett had enoug h t ime to prac t ice h is flying lessons - without a plane - on the way t o the w in . J im Gibson 12 2) a nd Rob Ho d g s o n 19 9) demonstrate a bit of high flying acrobatics. Gibson fi nishe d second. Ho d g s on was 12th. th e third lap. Barnett moved closer sti ll, ridin g extreme ly well an d confidentl y, th e op posi te o f O 'M ara at this po int. Barnett, now withi n striking distance, kn ew h is ma in op pone nt in the 125cc Nationa l Cha m pions hi p chase was affected by the way Mark was dogging h im arou nd the co u rse. Ha lfway th ro ugh the 20 lap final Bar ne tt's determination paid off. As he was moving up to lap a slower rider, O'Mara and the rider bumped when the slower rider decided he co u ld n 't jump the section. O'Mara stalled his engine. It was more than enough to let Barnett fl y by as the new leader. After coming back to racing speed. O'Mara misjudged a section of the long series of sharp whoops and fell. He was stopped for some 15 seconds as Jim Gibson, who held third since , the start of the fina l, darted by togra b second place. O'Mara got goi ng once more, and cruised to a third-place fin ish. He crossed the lin e a head of Suzu ki Ca nada's Ross Pederson. w ho had ex perienced problems with the treacherous whoop section. There were a total of ten American riders in the 20 rider field with Suzuki's pro support rider Clint Hardick iaking fifth and Honda pro support rider Jeff Surwall placing seventh. " It 's simple." said O'Mara after the race, " I blew it." H e was more than a bit dejected. Gibson, who followed Barn ett to the finish said, "I knew Mark was o ut front although 1could never get close enough to see him. If you can't get an idea of how far someone is in front of you it 's hard to tell if you have a chance to catch them ," Ba rn ett was a ll smi les after accepting $3,000 for winning. • Result s 1. M ar k Barn ett (SUl); 2. J im Gib son (Hon); 3. Jo hnny O 'Mara (Ho n); 4 . Ross Pederson (Suz); 5. Clint Hardick (Su z); 6. M ike Harnden (Yam); 7. Jeff Surwall (Hon): 8 . Zoli Ber eny i Jr. (Yam ); 9 . Marty Sm ith (Hon); 11. TIm Krogh (Hon); 11 . Doug Hoo ver (Vam); 12, Rob Hodgson (Kaw ); 13. Alan Logu e (Hon ); 14 . Serge Gregoire (Yam ); 15. John Savitski (Suz ); 16. Dave McG regor (Yam ); 17. Mark Garrison (Suz); 18 . Terry Hofoss (Yaml ; 19 . J i m Wo lfen barger (Ma i); 20. Buddy Ford (Vam), CMAlMolson Sup.,ercross Series: Round 2 CMAlMolson Sup.,ercross Series: Round J Barnett claims Go Faster Toronto • wm By Marc Lac hapelle TORONTO, CANADA, MAY 28 Mark Barnett, the defending U.S. Supercross champ, showed why he won his crown with a display of riding ability that left 28 his competition in CNE Stadium wonder ing what had h it th em . Barnett 's decisive win ov er Honda's Jim Gibson must have had a tas te o f sweet revenge for the U.S. Suzuki sponsored rider. It more or less got him even with Johnny O 'Mara, the winner of th e 1981 even t , This year's Canadian Championsh ip round was wat ch ed by a record 38,971 fans. La st year, Johnny 0 ' had been able to fend off a n ever-ch argin g Barnett in th e T oronto fin al, thanks, at least in p art, to the narrowness of the track. This particular cha rac ter of th e CNE Stadium layout had put a lapped rider in front of Barnett just as he was setting up to pass O 'Mara on the last lap. This year, " Bom ber" Barnett would ha ve none of that. H e and O 'Mara ea sily took qualifying round wins. Barnett started the final a little behind the leadingO'Maraand his RC250AF. He was third by the half point in that first lap, and second only moments later. Barnett th en proceeded to reel in the blond Californian, at the sa me time putting more and more pressure on him. " I didn 't have time and didn' t feel the need to glan ce over my shoulder," said O'Mara later. " I knew he was th ere and moving up." O 'Mara, moving on th e track with as much ease and eriergy as h e did last yea r in practice and qualifying, then started showing signs th at Barnett's presence behind him was getting to him. H e bobbled in the very tri cky, six-giant-whoop straight as early as Montreal bagged by Barnett By Marc Lachapelle MONTREAL, CANADA, J UNE 5 Mark Barn ett, the defending U.S. Supercross Champion, has never been topped in Montreal's O lym p ic Stadium. This year, he won his third straight SuperMotocross by more than II seconds over ~ H o n da ' s Jim Gibson, in front of a record 55,700 spectators. This bro u gh t the Alabama-based, Illinois-born superstar $4,000 out of a $24,200 total purse. Barn ett' s sponso r, Suzuki, was q u ick to double tha t amount as an adde d bon us to its top rider. The win, obviousl y, was no surprise to all present. After coming out on top after a race-long bout with Brae G lover two years ago, Barn ett last yea r th oroughly domina ted the event. Fresh from Supercross wins in Kansas City and Toronto, " Bomber" came to one of his favorite hunting

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